Thursday, January 11, 2018

Strictly limited to 500 copies worldwide. Comes in high-quality full-colour gatefold sleeve with insert. 10 December 1974. 200 conscripts exit the casern of Draguignan in order to demonstrate in the streets of the city. They make part of those clandestine soldier committees multiplying themselves all over France with a view to unite the young activists of the extreme left with the anti-militarists.

This dispute is a backwash of the student manifestations in spring 1973 against the Debré law reforming the military service. The ""Collectif du Temps des Cerises"" founded by François Tusques, one of the pioneers of the French free jazz, decides to support the insubordinates. Denis Levaillant, 22 years old at the time, becomes the driving force of this discographical project. It's with another big name in jazz, Jef Gilson in his studio Palm, the group records the compositions of Levaillant, appearing under the pseudonym Serge Igor, as well as cover versions of traditional Spanish music, among others the mythic ""El paso del Ebro"".

The young French jazz avantgarde scene of the early 70s participates in that session which brings together musicians like Jean-Jacques Avenel, Pierre Rigaud, Jean Méreu, Antoine Cuvelier, Gérard Tamestit, Guy Oulchen, Christian Ville, Robert Lucien, Carlos Andréou et Kirjuhel. The graphic designer collective Atarpop 73 creates the sleeve of the album which was released in an edition of 3000 copies and sold during the student manifestations.

This radical report of a rebellious youth raising from the still glowing ashes of May 1968 brings to our ears a jazz as spiritual as revolutionary.

From jazz and soul to rock and country, the blues are the bedrock and a uniting feature for much of the popular music originating in the United Sates. The simple and repetitive structures are easy to grasp and perform, making the blues extremely approachable. Under the command of brilliant writers like the legendary Leadbelly, the blues maintains a unique place between high art and common expression.The discovery of the music of Leadbelly was transformative for young Adam Nussbaum. The only child of artistic parents in Norwalk, Connecticut, Nussbaum was exposed to many recordings, from classical to folk to jazz and blues. It was the image of Huddie Ledbetter on the original Folkways 10-inch record covers that fascinated the five year old. The celebrated blues and folk musician’s music seared itself into his ears, as it does in young listeners, informing the future drummer’s musical approach for years to come, most explicitly on his new recording, The Leadbelly Project.

Adam Nussbaum / Photo by Neil Swanson

Nussbaum studied classical piano for five years, but it wasn’t until he was twelve that he focused on drums. He played in local bands before moving to New York to study at the Davis Center at City College. Most of Nussbaum’s education was earned by sitting in with other musicians and it wasn’t long before he caught the attention of the City’s most notable players, including Dave Liebman and John Scofield. His professional career began as he left school to go on tour with Scofield. He has remained a first call drummer over the past 30 years, playing alongside legends like John Abercrombie, Gil Evans, James Moody, Stan Getz, and many others.Nussbaum has had a long association with bassist Steve Swallow, through whom he met saxophonist/composer/arranger Ohad Talmor, who then became a great friend and collaborator. It was Talmor who suggested that Nussbaum begin a new project. It was for this that the drummer decided to revisit some of the music that inspired him early on, specifically the music of Leadbelly. Nussbaum found that the simplicity and clarity of Leadbelly’s songs provided many possibilities in interpretation. It was only a matter of finding the right voices to fill out an ensemble.For his quartet in addition to Talmor, Nussbuam decided to eschew the bass and employ two electric guitarists (two six stringers for Leadbelly’s single 12-string guitar) whose only requirements would be to be open-minded, stay out of each other’s way and be supportive of the music. Steve Cardenas was an obvious choice as Nussbaum had been a fan of his playing and felt that he would be receptive and sensitive to this melding of jazz, blues, and folk. Nate Radley was a perfect foil for Cardenas and a sensitive listener who could bring much to the music.

Dot Time Records is proud to announce that it will release INTERPLAY, the exciting new album from the Kavita Shah/François Moutin Duo.Interplay is a meeting of minds and spirits, one that embraces virtuosity, spontaneity, and lyricism through a repertoire of standards and original music adapted to the unique instrumentation of acoustic bass and voice. It features 11 tracks recorded at Sear Sound Studios in New York and Studio le Meudon in Paris, and is due for release in January 2018. Shah and Moutin are also joined by their octogenarian mentors–NEA Jazz Master Sheila Jordan on vocals, considered by many as the pioneer of bass-and-voice duets, and legendary pianist Marital Solal–on two tracks each. The result is an improvisational journey across lyric-driven and wordless pieces alike.

FRANÇOIS MOUTIN (www.moutin.com), a virtuosic bassist, was born in Paris, and received a doctorate in physics at the age of 24 before choosing to become a professional musician. He has been a member of the legendary Martial Solal Trio for three decades, and since age 29, he has co-led the Quintet Moutin with his twin brother Louis, a project which later evolved into the Moutin Reunion Quartet. He regularly composes and tours extensively with this group around the world. In addition, François has worked with such musicians as: Antoine Hervé, André Ceccarelli, Jean-Michel Pilc, Randy Brecker, Dave Liebman, Toots Thielemans and Michel Legrand just to name a few.

KAVITA SHAH (www.kavitashahmusic.com) is an award-winning vocalist, composer, and lifelong New Yorker who makes work in deep engagement with the jazz idiom while addressing and advancing its global sensibilities. Hailed by NPR for possessing an “amazing dexterity for musical languages,” Kavita incorporates strands of Latin American, West African, and South Asian traditions into her original music. Not unlike François, Kavita studied Romance Languages & Literatures at Harvard before pursuing a Master’s in jazz voice at Manhattan School of Music. In 2012, she was named Downbeat’s Best Graduate Jazz Vocalist; in 2013, she won ASCAP’s Herb Alpert Young Jazz Composers Award. Her debut album, VISIONS, co-produced by Lionel Loueke, was released in 2014 to great critical acclaim. Kavita regularly brings her music to world-class stages such as the Kennedy Center, Duc des Lombards, Blue Note and numerous jazz festivals across the Americas, Europe, and Australia.

“I started the concept of doing bass and voice in the early 1950’s, so to be a guest on a wonderful young singer and swinging bass player’s recording some 60 years later is a fantastic feeling.” – Sheila Jordan, NEA Jazz Master